The new Cancer Therapeutic and Diagnostic Research Northwestern Ontario (CANCARE NWO) research group formed only a few months ago, but it already has an impressive head start with several studies underway.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim, a medical oncologist at the Cancer Centre and the group’s founder, said that the new research group provides an opportunity for researchers to collaborate within the region and potentially with other research groups around the world.
“CANCARE NWO is a group that combines physicians and scientists,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “It’s a platform for conducting cancer research in all its types including clinical and pre-clinical (lab) research. It’s the first group of its kind in Northwestern Ontario.”
Dr. Ibrahim is engaged in multiple collaborations focused on advancing treatments for different types of breast cancer. He and Dr. Nishigandha Burute, a breast radiologist at the Hospital, are partnering with Dr. Thanh Le and his team at Laurentian University to enhance chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer patients in Northern Ontario by analyzing immune biomarkers. Additionally, he collaborates with Dr. Jinqiang Hou, Research Chair at Lakehead University and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, to identify new therapeutic targets for treating triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer.
Tissue biomarkers play a crucial role in advancing new approaches to breast cancer treatment. By analyzing specific markers, cancer researchers can better understand the biological characteristics of a tumour. This can lead to more personalized treatment plans.
For example, HER2 is a protein that promotes cancer cell proliferation and is present in some breast cancers. There are targeted therapies that directly attack HER2-positive cancers, which improve results for patients.
Additionally, identifying these unique markers has paved the way for immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. As research finds new markers, more individualized treatments like these will improve patient results and quality of life.
“Potentially, we will find a new approach to treat triple-negative breast cancer,” Dr. Ibrahim said.
Currently, Dr. Ibrahim is conducting research to develop new approaches to treat triple-negative breast cancer and identifying new biomarkers for breast cancer. His expertise in this area stems from his doctoral thesis work at Dublin City University in Ireland. His ongoing investigation could potentially lead to more effective therapies for this aggressive subtype of breast cancer.
Dr. Ibrahim is furthering his research by collaborating with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute on the REthinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) model, which offers an innovative approach to conducting clinical trials by comparing standard care practices. So far, ten clinical trials have been completed, allowing patients and physicians in Northwestern Ontario to participate in important pragmatic studies that can change clinical practices.
One notable trial demonstrated that five doses of an immune-boosting injection after each chemotherapy cycle is as effective as providing ten injections, but with fewer side effects and lower costs. Not only does this improve patient care, it reduces workload on staff to make it a win-win.
Cancer research is important to ensure patients get the absolute best treatments possible. The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation provides funding to CANCARE NWO for a full-time research assistant to help scientists and physician researchers with a variety of important – and time-consuming – tasks such as grant writing and applying for research approvals. Your donations to the Northern Discovery Fund directly support this and other local research.
You can help fund tomorrow’s treatments. Donate today by selecting, “I want to support Discovery Fund” from the drop-down menu at: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/cancer